Thursday, August 23, 2012

Party Platforms

Via Corrente, here's what the Democratic Party should adopt for its platform when they convene at their convention in Charlotte, NC on 4-6 September:

The 12 Word
Platform

1. Medicare for
All

2. End the Wars

3. Tax the Rich

4. A Jobs Guarantee

Here is the official site of the Democratic National Convention. Nowhere can I find even a draft of the party's platform--what the Democratic Party actually stands for.

The site only mentions in passing that they're working on the party's platform and it will be voted on at the convention. To me, a working draft to read up on in advance would be kinda nice, but that's just me, I guess.

That tells you all you need to know about how important the party leaders think their platform is.

By the way, the 12 Word Platform is spot-on.

I would be remiss if I did not also comment upon the Republican platform, where we read the following, courtesy of RH Reality Check:

The draft official platform strongly supports a "a human life amendment" to the Constitution:

"Faithful to the 'self-evident' truths enshrined in the Declaration of Independence, we assert the sanctity of human life and affirm that the unborn child has a fundamental individual right to life which cannot be infringed," the draft platform declares. "We support a human life amendment to the Constitution and endorse legislation to make clear that the Fourteenth Amendment's protections apply to unborn children."

Let's be very, very clear that such an amendment—which Mitt Romney has said unequivocally he would sign—would not only criminalize abortions of any kind for any reason, but also would outlaw many forms of contraception, in-vitro fertilization, and treatment of pregnant women with life-threatening conditions such as cancer. Moreover, it would also criminalize miscarriage.

When will we ever reach the point of enlightenment when we finally recognize that it should be the fundamental right of any woman to control her own body and to decide whether or not she chooses to be pregnant? (that is a rhetorical question to which the answer, sadly, seems to be "never").